Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and original member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, is cosponsoring a bipartisan bill to study carbon emissions and promote America’s environmental leadership. The Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act would direct the Department of Energy to compare the amount of emissions from manufacturing goods in the United States to the emissions of those same goods when produced in countries worldwide.
This research would be the first step towards developing policy – like a potential carbon tariff – that would combat climate change while ensuring a more level playing field for American producers who are forced to compete against rivals in countries like China with lower environmental standards
“Climate change is one of the most pressing, existential threats facing our country. As we race against time to find and implement solutions, we must be guided by the facts from a global perspective – and that means accounting for the carbon footprint of nations around the world,” said Senator King. “The PROVE IT Act is a bipartisan, commonsense effort to quantify emissions and then develop strategies to support the United States’ continued environmental leadership in manufacturing. America has taken historic steps to address climate change with clean energy investments, but we aren’t operating in a vacuum and there is still more work to be done. Along with much needed permitting reform, this bill would be a significant boost in our mission to find a clean, sustainable energy path forward that protects the planet for generations to come.”
American manufacturers abide by some of the cleanest production standards in the world, and U.S. production is widely regarded as cleaner and more responsible than its competitors. The PROVE IT Act would obtain high-quality data to back up this claim up by determining the emissions intensity of domestically produced goods like steel, cement, glass, and aluminum, compared to those around the globe.
The PROVE IT Act would direct the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study, alongside the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Trade Representative, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State, to:
- Determine the average emissions intensity of covered products produced in the United States and identify any gaps in that data
- Determine the average emissions intensity of covered products produced by G7 countries, free trade agreement partners, foreign countries of concern, and countries that hold a substantial global market share for a covered product
- Determine the emissions intensity of products produced in the United States compared to products produced in covered countries
- Facilitate collaboration among entities with expertise in data collection and analysis, support international coordination on emissions intensity data, and establish a process for receiving data from private industry on a voluntary basis.
Senator King is joined on the bill by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.). A one-pager summary of the bill is availablehere. The text of the bill is availablehere.
As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator King has advocated for climate solutions that support Maine communities and has been one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates for improving energy technologies and development as a way to unlock America’s clean energy future. He has repeatedly emphasized the importance of permitting reform to unlocking the promise of clean energy development opportunities created in last year’s historic Inflation Reduction Act . In addition to a recent discussion with FERC, he has stressed the importance of streamlining and speeding project timelines while maintaining environmental standards to the Secretaries of Energy and Interior.